Leonardo's Drawing 1.1

First created 2 Apr 2012. Version 1.1 - 8 Jan 2016. Jerry Tse. London.

Leonardo da Vinci

All rights reserved. Rights belong to their respective owners. Available free for non-commercial and personal use.

His drawings – A Quest for Knowledge

No drawing of any other artist has attracted so much attentions as Leonardo’s drawings. It is due to the scope of his interests in painting, sculpture, engineering, botany, mapmaking, hydraulics and anatomy. This sets him apart from other artists. His drawings outnumbered his paintings many times, providing us insights into the mind of Leonardo. He simply saw art and science as different sides of the same coin.

“ The painter has the Universe in his mind and hand.” – Leonardo da Vinci.

Drawing of Two Maintain Ranges. c1511. Royal Library. Windsor Castle. United Kingdom.

Classical

Land

scap

e

Arno Landscape. August 1473. Gallerie degli Uffizi . Florence.

Map

mak

ing

Bird’s-Eye view of a Landscape. 1502. Royal Library. Windsor Castle. United Kingdom.

Horse Studies. c1480. Royal Library. Windsor Castle. United Kingdom.

Animal

Animal

Study of the Paw of a Dog or Wolf. c1480. National Gallery of Scotland. United Kingdom.

Animal

Study for the Trivulzio Monument. C1508-11. Royal Library. Windsor Castle. United Kingdom.

Leonardo did a series of drapery studies. He went to extraordinary length to produce these beautiful images of light falling onto linen. Some of these studies became parts of the finished paintings.

According to Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574), Leonardo sometimes “made clay models, draping the figure with rags dipped in plaster, and draw them painstakingly on fine Rheims cloth or prepared linen”.

c1475-78. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.

Drapery Studies

Drapery Studies

c1472-75. Musee du Louvre. Paris.

Drapery Studies

c1475-80. Musee du Louvre. Paris.

Drapery Studies

c1475-80. Royal Library, Windsor Castle, England.

Drapery Studies

c1475-76. Institut Neerlandaise, Paris.

Drapery Studies

c1475. Princeton, New Jersey. US.

Antique Warrior. c1472. British Museum, London.

Portraiture

Portraiture

A young Woman in Profile. c1488. Royal Library, Windsor Castle. UK.

Portraiture

Study of the Infant Christ. C1501-10. Gallerie dell’Accademia. Venice.

Port

raitu

re

Studies of a Male Nude (Front and back). c1503-09. Royal Library, Windsor Castle.

Portraiture

Head of a Man and a Lion. 1503-05. Royal Library. Windsor Castle. UK.

Portraiture

Older Man in Profile. c1510. Royal Library. Windsor Castle. UK.

Portraiture

A Bearded Man. c1513. Royal Library. Windsor Castle. UK.

Anatomical figure showing the heart, liver, kidneys and main blood vessels. c1490. Royal Library. Windsor Castle. UK.

Anatomy

Ana

tom

y

Human Skull in Sagittal Section with Cranial Nerves. c1490. Royal Library. Windsor Castle. UK.

Anatomy

Leg Muscles. c1507-10. Royal Library. Windsor Castle. UK.

Anatomy

Organs of the Chest and Abdomen and the Vascular System of a Woman. c1508. Royal Library. Windsor Castle. UK.

Anatomy

The Lungs, Heart and Abdominal Organs of a Pig. c1508. Royal Library. Windsor Castle. UK.

Anatomy

The “Instruments” of Breathing, Swallowing and Speaking (Uvula, Pharynx, Tongue with Trachea, Larynx and Oesophagus). c1509-10. Royal Library. Windsor Castle. UK.

Anatomy

Anatomical Studies of the Developing Foetus and Foetus in the Womb. c1510. Royal Library. Windsor Castle. UK.

Study of a Lily. c1480-85. Royal Library. Windsor Castle. UK.

The Annunication (Detail). c1472-75. Galleria degli Uffizi. Florence.

Studies of paintings

Studies for paintings

The Virgin of the Rocks (Detail Angel). c1483-55. Musee du Louvre. Paris.

c1483. Biblioteca Reale. Turin.

Studies for paintings

The Virgin of the Rocks (Detail Angel’s hand). c1483-55. Musee du Louvre. Paris.

c1483. Royal Library. Windsor Cattle. UK.

Studies for paintings

Madonna Litta (Detail). c1490-91. The State Hermitage. St Petersburg.

c1490. Musee du Louvre. Paris.

Studies for paintings

Studies of the Heads of Two Soldiers. c1503-04. Szepmuveszeti, Museum. Budapest.

Battle of Anghiari. 1503-05. copy by an unknown artist after Leonardo da Vinci. Musee de Louvre. Paris.

Studies for paintings

The Virgin and Child with St Anne (Detail). 1508-1513. Musee de Louvre. Paris.

c1501-1510. Royal Library. Windsor Castle, United Kingdom.

Studies for paintings

The Virgin and Child with St Anne (Detail). 1508-1513. Musee de Louvre. Paris.

c1501-1511. Musee de Louvre. Paris.

Studies for paintings

The Virgin and Child with St Anne (Detail). 1508-1513. Musee de Louvre. Paris.

The Virgin and Child with St Anne and the Young St John the Baptist. c1501. National Gallery. London.

Studies for paintings

Head of Leda. C1505-10. Royal Library. Windsor Castle. UK

Leda and the Swan (Detail). 1508. Cesare da Sesto after Leonardo da Vinci. Wilton House. Salisbury. Wiltshire. UK

Study for a Building on a Centralized Plan. c1487-90. Bibliotheque de l’Institut de France.

Architecture

Study of a Multi-barrels Guns. c1482. Biblioteca Ambrosiana. Milan.

Science and Engineering

Science and Engineering

Drawing of military machines. c1487-90. Royal Library, Window Castle. United Kingdom.

Scie

nce

and

Eng

inee

ring

Design for a Shrapnel Mortar (with explosive shell). c1495-99. Biblioteca Ambrosiana. Milan.

Scie

nce

and

Eng

inee

ring

Study of the Mechanical Power of a Spring. c1493-97. Biblioteca Nacional. Madrid.

Scie

nce

and

Eng

inee

ring

Deluge over the Sea. c1515. Royal Library, Window Castle. United Kingdom.

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” Leonardo da Vinci.

The Proportions of the Human Figure (Homo Vitruvianus). 1490. Gallerie dell’Accademia. Venice.

This drawing depicts the ideal proportions of a man, as described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius. Many attempts before Leonard failed to fit a circle and a square onto the man. Leonardo solved the problem by separated the centre of the circle from that of the square

This drawing also summarises Leonardo’s view of the world that art (‘beauty’) and science (‘measurement based studies’) are different sides of the same coin. It is his attempt to relate man to nature.

Vitruvian Man

Tim

elin

e Re

naiss

ance

Pai

nter

s

Leonardo contemporaries

All rights reserved. Rights belong to their respective owners. Available free for non-commercial and personal use.

Music – Enya To Go Beyond (1986).

“One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself.” Leonardo da Vinci.

The Virgin and St Anne (detail). c1501. National Gallery, London.

The End